“We are being denied 0ur freedom to discriminate. It says so right here in the Bibl…. I mean owners manual”.

“Oh, it’s not so bad. You can discriminate all you want! But if one of my cousins has a hissy tizzy, you won’t be able to use my Dad this time to get out of trouble. Remember what we talked about?? But not to worry, remember who’s by your side! But from now on, you need to be discriminating in your discrimination, OK?”

Are you impressed that Jan Brewer bowed to “common sense” and “human dignity” and the US Constitution?

Are you?

Because you damned wellshouldn’tbe.

Brewer simply gave in to pragmatism and she deserves no credit for her moral cowardice whatsoever. None.

Brewer, along with Arizona conservatives such as John McCain who called for the veto, deserve nothing but contempt.

Brewer should have signed the bill instead of vetoing it.

That’s right.

Governor Jan Brewer should have put Arizona’s money where conservative mouths are and signed SB 1062 into law and made religious Apartheid a reality in Arizona right along with Russia and Iran.

And then –and then– Brewer and the ideological fanatics of her party should have been forced tolivewith the consequences.

Oh now, don’t get me wrong.

I’m sincerely glad that the people of Arizona won’t have to suffer for the bigotry of a handful of religious zealots.

I’m relieved that sanity, for whatever reason, prevailed in the eleventh hour and that LGBT people in yet another US state won’t be relegated to even worse treatment at the hands of Evangelical Christianity.

But, Folks, look here, nothing, and I meannothing, demonstrates the bottomless hypocrisy and the absolute moral cowardice of the religious fanatics who’ve taken over the Arizona legislature than this veto.

Nothing.

Arizona Republican Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake urged Governor Brewer to veto SB 1062, because, according to McCain, implementation of the law would be “devastating.”

Devastating to the state. Economically.

Devastating to business. Financially.

Devastating to Republicans. Politically.

But not devastating to actualpeople –especially the gay ones who are apparently not John McCain’s concern.

Last Monday, conservative state senators Bob Worsley, Adam Driggs, and Steve Pierce sent a letter to Governor Brewer, asking her to veto SB 1062.

Butjust days before, all three joined the Arizona Senate Republican caucus in votingforthe bill.

That’s right, they voted for the bill, but then asked the governor to veto it.

After Republicans passed the bill and sent it to Brewer’s office for signature, and onlyafterthe scope of the resulting national outcry became apparent, Worsley confessed to reporters. “I have not been comfortable with this for some time.”

I have not been comfortable with this for some time?

Haven’t been comfortable with this for some time?

Jesus Haploid Christ, Worsley, what thefuck?

Worsley wasn’t comfortable with it, but he went right ahead and voted for SB 1062anywayinstead of taking responsibility for his own conscience.

He knew it was wrong, but instead of standing up andforcefullyspeaking out and holding his own party to public account, instead of demonstrating the superior moral conviction he and those like him loudly and repeatedly claim for their religion, he just went along with it anyway.

Worsely, Driggs, and Pierce weren’t comfortable with a bill that they voted for, that would have legalized blatant religious discrimination at their own dirty hands, but they voted for itanyway?

And what were they going to do then if Brewer signed the bill into law?Livewith their discomfort?

Ask yourself something: if they could live with that particular discomfort, if their religious convictions could tolerate that discomfort without damning them to Bible Hell, thenwhy can’t they live with the discomfort of being around gay people?

McCain, Worsley, et al, are so, so utterly typical of these hypocrites.

They are leaders in a party and a religion that has donenothingbut villainize LGBT people at every turn – and then, what? They’re notcomfortablewhen that same rabid fanaticism attempts to marginalize those self-same people?

This is so, so goddamned typical of John McCain. A man who spent his entire presidential campaign relentlessly demonizing his opponent, and then had the unmitigated gall to pretend that he wasn’t responsible when his own fanatical supporters – and his own running mate – resorted to calling Barack Obama an Arab and a Muslim and unAmerican and a subhuman mongrel in the national media and continue to do so to this very day.

McCain, Worsley, Driggs, Pierce, and Brewer are soutterlytypical of this yellow-eyed breed of modern conservative fanatic – who, in the US House, voted last year to shut down the federal government, and then cried foul when they had to live with the backlash. And who, just last month, voted to shut the government down yetagain… but then quietly urged Speaker John Boehner to make a deal with Democrats to increase the US debt ceiling in a clean resolution and keep America running so they didn’t have to suffer the consequences of their lunacy yet again.

These peopleknowthey are wrong.

They know it. Quod erat demonstrandum.

They know it, they absolutely know they are on the wrong side of history.

And yet they persist – just so long as they don’t have to live with the consequences.

Brewer vetoed SB 1062 for a number of reasons:

– because it could have cost Arizona the 2015 Super Bowl.

– because it could have significantly harmed Arizona’s tourist industry.

– because it could have cost Arizona business, particularly from Marriott Hotels, Apple, American Airlines and Yelp, in addition to hundreds of conferences, seminars, and retreats.

– because it would have inevitably resulted in endless lawsuits, costing Arizona millions upon millions of dollars in litigation.

– because it would likely have cost Republicans their majority in the Arizona state government.

– because it would have negatively affected Republican prospects in the 2014 midterm national elections.

– and because it would have had an impact on the 2016 presidential race.

– and most especially since it might have directly resulted in unintended discrimination againstChristians.

And so, when it came right down to it in Arizona today, rather than do what was rightbecauseit was the right thing to do, rather than strike down the bill because it would have legalized religious segregation as if Arizona was a state in Russia instead of America, Brewer at the behest of her oh so smug religion and her oh so morally superior political party vetoed SB 1062notbecause it was blatantly counter toeverythingthe United States stands for but rather because it would have cost Arizonamoney.

When Brewer was forced onto the global stage toverypublicly choose between state sanctioned Apartheid and the almighty American dollar, not to mention political power, Brewer did the predictable thing.

She did what these peoplealwaysdo when forced to chose between conviction and profit.

She took the money.

So much for republicans’ vaunted ideals.

So much for the superiormoralityof conservative religious conviction.

The simple truth is that if these people reallybelievedin the rightness and righteousness of their religion, they would have passed the bill and to hell with the consequences.

Make no mistake whatsoever, Folks, if Arizona republicans could have gotten away with it, if they could have signed this bill into law andonly gay people and non-Christians would have been negatively affected, they damned wellwouldhave – that was the entire point of SB 1062 in the first place.

Instead, Brewer’s veto lays bare the hypocrisy of this blighted ideology and shows it for what it really is: hate for hate’s sake and nothing more.

Common sense, human dignity, and liberty didnotprevail today in Arizona.

Right won outonlybecause these people worship power and money far more than they love their small and hateful God.

They won’t do what’sright, but they can usually be counted on to do what isprofitable.

And let that be a lesson for future battles.

Comments Off on Another brilliantly pithy observation by our good friend Jim Wright of Stonekettle Station

“So much of the cultural transformation going on in America right now is towards acceptance and tolerance,” Barry Broome, president of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, toldCBS 5 Newson Friday. “I think it’s going to be very difficult to attract any kind of talent or investment or events. It’s going to destroy the goodwill between our state and the rest of the world.”

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who voted in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act last year, also joined opponents of SB 1062 in calling for the governor to veto the state bill.

Brewer has five days from when she receives the bill to veto it. Otherwise, the bill becomes law.

– Members of Arizona’s congressional delegation, including its two Republican U.S. senators, are speaking out against the controversialanti-gay legislation known as SB 1062, urging Gov. Jan Brewer (R) to veto it.

On Monday, Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) tweeted that they oppose the legislation, which the state House and Senate passed last week. The bill would allow business owners to refuse service to same-sex couples on the grounds of “religious freedom.”

Of Arizona’s nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives, five have publicly spoken out against the legislation; four Democrats have said they oppose SB 1062 and one Republican said he is not going to take a stand on the issue because it is a state bill.

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who is the only openly bisexual member of Congress, tweeted in response to Flake, “I agree.”

“The far right of the conservative movement has been using our state as a petri dish for their anti-immigrant, anti-worker, anti-environment, anti-women, anti-education, anti-gun safety agenda for years now, and it needs to stop,” Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) told The Huffington Post. “Arizonans did not ask for this bill or any other form of state-sanctioned discrimination.”

Rep. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.) called SB 1062 “a deeply offensive piece of legislationthat would give legal protection to business owners who discriminate against certain groups of individuals” in a statement.

And a spokesman for Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Garrett Hawkins, said in an email the congressman wouldn’t be weighing in on SB 1062 because it was a state issue.

The other four members of the congressional delegation did not return a request for comment. One of the lawmakers, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), hasa son who is gay.

Brewer has not yet indicated whether she will sign the legislation, which has garnered opposition from gay rights groups and Arizona businesses. According to the Arizona Republic,the tourism industry is especially worriedabout the effects such a law could have on the state ahead of the Super Bowl, which is set to be held in Glendale, Ariz., in 2015.

Arizona state Sen. Steve Pierce (R) was one of the lawmakers who voted to pass SB 1062, a controversial bill that would allow businesses to refuse service to same-sex couples. He is now saying he made a mistake in supporting the legislation and wants the governor to veto it.

“To say [the bill is] anti-gay is following the feeding frenzy,” Pierce said. “I have friends that are gay and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt them. This is blown way out of proportion and it’s too bad.”

The Arizona state Senate voted along party lines last Wednesday toapprove SB 1062. The state House followed up two days later. Supporters say the legislation simply protects the “religious freedom” of individuals, groups and businesses, but it would also allow these entities to refuse service to same-sex couples.

It is now up to Gov. Jan Brewer (R) to sign or veto it. She has not yet indicated what she plans to do.

The business community has come out strongly against the bill, withthe tourism industry especially worriedabout the effects it could have on the state ahead of the Super Bowl, which is set to be held in Glendale, Ariz., in 2015.

This entire post was written by Jim Wright of http://www.stonekettle.com/. He was nice enough to allow me to republish it. Legislating religious beliefs is dangerous. Invoking the name of God as an excuse to hate others is even worse. But as Cluster said, the free market is deterministic. If this passes, I hope the law is used against those who wrote it. As Leon of Curb Your Enthusiasm once said: “turn the topsy turvy on their ass.”

Friday, February 21, 2014

As we witness hostility towards people of faith grow like never before, we must take this opportunity to speak up for religious liberty. The great news is that SB 1062 protects your right to live and work according to your faith and was passed by the Arizona legislature. This bill is now heading to Governor Jan Brewer’s desk. One thing became undeniably clear as SB 1062 advanced through the legislature: opponents were not interested in an honest debate about the bill’s actual provisions. Instead, they distorted and attacked the bill and its supporters at every turn. Even before the last vote was cast in the House, opponents of SB 1062 started a mass calling and email campaign into Governor Brewer’s office to try to pressure her into vetoing this important bill. It is critical that the Governor hears from YOU that no one should be forced to violate their religious beliefs merely because they go to work or start a business! – Center For Arizona Policy Website.

Sir, the truth is, I talk to God all the time, and, no offense, but He never mentioned you.
–Phillipe Gaston, Ladyhawke, 1985

What would Jesus do?

You hear that question posed on a daily basis here in America.

You see it on Tee-shirts and posters and on the internet.

Folks ask you that question with a sardonic smile, Say, whadaya suppose the ol’ Savior would do?

It’s a funny thing, that question, when you think about it.

Funny peculiar. Not funny ha ha.

Somebody asked me that yesterday, “What would Jesus do?” What would Jesus do in Arizona? Which side would he stand on? What, oh what, would Jesus do?

I mean, itsoundsprofound, particularly if you couch it in an admonishing tone with a single raised eyebrow, “Aaaah, same sex marriage? Gay couples? Sin! Abomination! What do you think Jesus would say? What would Jesus think of the homosexual war on religion? Tsk, tsk, yes, whatwouldJesus say?”

Well, okay. Sure.

Leaving aside the fact that believers always structure the question in the past tense, which is fairly odd given that the guy in question is supposed to being a living deity (and frankly, if he’snot, then who cares what he thinks? And if heisaround, then why doesn’t he just come right out and say it, instead of having people guess at what he’d say?), here’s the problem: me personally? Well, I’ve got no goddamned ideawhatJesus would do or what he would say.

None.

And how would I?

No, really, how the hell would I know what Jesus would say about gay marriage?

After all, Jesus, according to his followers and the only existent written documentation, isGod, right? You know, Yahweh, Jehovah, King of Kings, El Supremo, the Big Cheese, The Light and The Way, all knowing, all seeing, all powerful, the divine supernatural creator of Heaven and Earth and all the chirping birdies that fly in the sky and all the little fishies that swim in the deep blue sea. According to the user’s manual, he’somniscientandomnipotentand his mind encompasses all of creation across the depth and the width and the breadth of the entire multiverse, from before the Big Bang to the last guttering spark at the heat death of the cosmos and everything that comes in between. Right? I mean, right? Becauseanythingless and he’s not God, or at least notGodGod. Right?

So, seriously, can you imagine what a mind of that vastness must be like?

Isure as shit can’t, I wouldn’t even know where to start.

And you want me to guess what God would do about gay people wanting to be treated like human beings?

I’m not even a member of his fan club, I don’t get the weekly insider newsletter, so, given the playing field, honestly, how in the pluperfectHellcould I possibly know whatGodwould do in any given situation?

How would I haveanyhope whatsoever of guessing the hypothetical actions of some unfathomable, likely mythical, divine being? How would I know what a god would do, especially one who speaks in riddles and vague long outdated anecdotes about people who lived millennia ago and whose most vocal ranting raging self-appointed representatives here among the dirty unwashed of this tiny backwater hamlet lost among the vasty cosmos are, for all intents and purposes, clinically indistinguishable from the mentally ill?

WhatwouldJesus do?

Beats me.

Given his track record, it could be anything from wiping us all out in a giant flood to snuffing all the first born children to nuking a couple of cities to a plague of flies and poison toads to having us all wander around in the desert for a couple of decades to maybe just showing us his bare ass cheeks and lighting the bushes on fire. I assume he’s got other tricks up the sleeve of his robe, I mean a guy like this could drop a neutron star on your head or turn off the sun as easily as he parted the sea, so, really, how would Iknow?Hell, I can’t even guess what my cat is going to do from one minute to the next – and God can conjure entireuniversesfrom his own mind. To a creature likethat,humans and cats are basically on the same level, hell, from the perspective of such a vast, vast consciousness me and any random bacterium would be identical twins.

And you want me toread his mind?

That would be like asking the aforementioned bacterium to guess what I’d say – and the germ would have a higher probability of success.

What wouldJesusdo? Jesus?

It amuses me that there are people out there who actually think they know.

This God of theirs builds universes,universes. Black holes and globular clusters, whole galaxies, trillions upon trillions upontrillionsof stars he fashions from nothing, he builds whole worlds with a wave of his mighty hand, conjures life from lifeless dirt … and yet – and yet – he actually gives a good Goddamn that two gay guys want get to married?

Never mind that homosexuality is only mentioned in the Bible seven times, seven, making it pretty darn far down on the Damnation-O-Meter compared to, oh, say,hypocrisywhich is condemned over and over and over and over andoveragain and again. And there arehundredsof references to economic justice and the immorality of those bent to the accumulation of wealth. And thousands, literallythousands,of words devoted to the feeding of the hungry, the clothing of the poor, and the healing of the sick.

No, no, it’s homosexuality, that’s the problem.

Never mind that Jesus himself never said a single word about it, for or against, and seriously, don’t you think he would? I mean, don’t you think he reallywouldhave given specific orders and admonishments on this subject? Don’t you think he would have laid down the law in clear and unambiguous terms, if it’s so, so very important to God and all, I mean.

You shouldn’t have toguesswhat Jesus would have said, he should havesaidit.

And just never mind that gayness didn’t even make the final cut when it came to God’s Old Testament Top Ten – let’s see, there’s the holy day thing, and don’t murder people bit, don’t steal, don’t covet asses, don’t lip off to your folks, no graven images, no other deities … but, nope, not one single word about gay people, nothing. Well, that’s just odd. I mean, how come it’s not in the Ten Commandments of all places? Given that, right there, is where God laid down his so-called moral law and allandgiven that he hates gay people so much? Seems like a pretty big oversight, doesn’t it? Seriously,don’t swearmade the list, but gayness didn’t? No graven images, no idols, butnotdon’t be gay?

Look, it’s not my religion, but come on.Really?

It amuses me (and by “amuses me” I mean “boggles my mind”) that there are those who actually go around thumping their fleshy chests and proclaiming with ponderous gravid certainty that their God would say this or that, that he approves of this and disapproves of that, that he loves these people and hates those people (What? God doesn’t hate gay people, you say? He loves ‘em, but he’s going to torture them in pits of fire for all eternity. But he loves them. Riiiight. There’s a word for guys like this. I’m just saying).

These people pretend insight into the supposedly unfathomably vast mind of an incomprehensible being that they claim spans not just universesbut all of time and space, and then they have the unmitigated gall to act offended when somebody demands proof of such outrageous and preposterous claims.

Worse, they inevitably, every single time without fail, attempt to use this supposed insight to justify their ownpersonalagenda of hate and fear.

In Arizona, a fanatical group of religious extremists calling themselves theCenter for Arizona Policywrote a bill called The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, officially called SB 1062, and Friday that bill passed the Arizona state senate and is now on its way to Governor Jan Brewer’s desk.

The basic gist of the law would allow Arizona businesses to legally discriminate againstanybody, but in particular Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) people.

This isn’t an exaggeration or hysterical hyperbole as its supporters claim.

In fact, if the law didn’tspecificallyprovide protection for businesses that want to discriminate based specifically on sexual orientation and religion, there wouldn’t beanyreason for it in the first place.

Legalizing discrimination is the entire purpose of SB 1062, it has no other provisions.

The law clearly and unambiguously allows businesses to turn away gay and lesbian customers based solely on sexual orientation (or suspected orientation), it specifically protects employers who deny equal pay to women based solely on their gender if they believe women are inferior on religious grounds, it allows employers to fire employees based solely on their sexual orientation or lifestyle or religion or lack of religion, and it allows individuals and businesses to renege on existing contractual obligations again based solely on sexual orientation or lifestyle or religious beliefs – just so long as they “sincerely” invoke God when they’re doing it.

This law essentially turns every private business in Arizona into holy ground and imposes Christian Dominionism on every person inside the state lines.

This law was written and promotedspecificallyin support ofonereligion, Evangelical Christian extremism, and no other.

It’s appalling ironic that the fanatics behind this new version of segregation are the very same people who fear imposition of Islamic law upon themselves, and yet they see nothing whatsoever hypocritical about forcing their own religious agenda on everybody else. As I said, their own holy book mentions homosexuality a mere handful of times, butspecificallycondemns their own hypocrisy and small minded bigotry over and over and over again.

Religious extremists would have you believe that SB 1062 is about protecting their rights, that they are somehow being denied their 1st Amendment Rights if they have to treat LGBT people as, well, you know,people. And that’s exactly what they are doing, Arizona legislators specifically wrote into the law a provision that clearly and unambiguously proclaims a “person” to be a “ANY INDIVIDUAL, ASSOCIATION, PARTNERSHIP, CORPORATION, CHURCH, RELIGIOUS ASSEMBLY OR INSTITUTION OR OTHER BUSINESS ORGANIZATION.”

In Arizona a church is a person.

An informal religious assembly is a person.

An association is a person.

A partnership is a person.

A corporation is a person.

A business is a person.

Unless they’re gay. Unless they don’t subscribe to the right religion. Then they are less than human.

The bill specifically targets LGBT people, but it’s written in such a manner that it allowsanyform of state supported bigotry so long as that discrimination is done in the name of religion, specifically a particular form of Christianity. Specifically Evangelical Christianity.

Think I’m wrong?

You just watch how fast the Christian sponsors and supporters of this bill start screaming in outrage when aMuslimrefuses their business based ontheirreligion.

If Governor Brewer signs this bigotry into law, you watch just how fast evangelicals backpedal when businesses start refusingthemservice, when employers start firingthemor payingthemless based solely on that little cross hanging around their necks, when the privately held cable or phone company turns off service totheirchurch, whentheycan’t get seated in a restaurant or find a business that will catertheirwedding.

This bill is being promoted byonereligion, solely in support ofonereligion, solely for the benefit ofonereligion. Period.

Given half a chance, these same people would turn Arizona and the rest of America into Putin’s Russia, or worse, Iran. Q.E.D.

And just whatwouldJesus say about that?

If the same Bible that these people use as justification for their bigotry and hatred is to be believed, then Jesus never saidanythingabout homosexuality, not one holy word. Butaccording to that same document, here’s what hedidspecifically say:

For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.-Matthew 6:14-15.

In the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.–Matthew 7:2-5

Then Peter came and said to Him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.-Matthew 18:21-22

Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions. –Mark 11:25-26

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. –Luke 6:25-37

Butif your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink, for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.– Romans 12:20-21

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; -I Corinthians 13:4-8

Brethren,do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature. – I Corinthians 14:20

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience,showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.–Ephesians 4:1-3

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. –Ephesians 4:32

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.–Philippians 2:3-4

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. –Colossians 3:12-13

Forjudgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. -James 2:13

To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.-I Peter 3:8-9

There’s more. Much, much more of the same.

So, why is it, do you suppose, that these people are so fixated on the unspoken, unknown, unguessable words of their God, but steadfastly refuse to acknowledge or obey the very very specificwritteninstructions of their prophet? Why must they guess at what Jesus would say, when they ignore the words he did say according to their own beliefs?

The simple hypocritical truth of the matter is this: These people demand the right to segregate themselves from those who don’t adhere to their version of the Christian faith, they seek to shun and shame those they see as sinners, and they demand this right in the name of a religion that vocally and specificallycommands them to do exactly the opposite.

They’re not trying to live up to the expectations of their God, they’re only using him as an excuse to hate others.

These hypocrites are simply mad that the current laws and the Constitution of the United States force them to live up to the admonishments of their own professed beliefs.

And the truly ironic thing is that this law is not only contrary to everything the United States stands for, according to Christian doctrine it’s contrary to everythingJesus stood for as well.

And just whatwouldJesus do about that?

I suspect he’d forgive them … but then again,hehas that luxury, sinceheobviously doesn’t live in Arizona.

I’ve mentioned it before, but ever since I became of age to vote, Republicans have had a consistent track record of fiscal irresponsibility. Which is ironic given that they claim to be the responsible ones. This started with Ronald Reagan, whose policies created then-record deficits. His vice president and successor, George H.W. Bush, continued the same spending habits, racking up new record deficits. And George W. Bush was famous for profligate spending, tax cuts with no matching spending cuts, and unfunded mandates, such as Medicare Part D. He also established new deficit records.

This year, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives reserved the prime designation of H.R. 1 for the tax reform plan they intend to introduce. Get a load of the “plan:” lower the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, lower the tax rate for top individual earners from 39.6 percent to 25 percent, and don’t worry about how to pay for it.

See, the paying for it part is always left out of the Republicans’ plans. It simply isn’t important to them. The fact is, their track record indicates that they don’t really care whether their tax cuts are paid for–that’s beside the point.

Writing about Ways and Means Chairman David Camp’s plans to release details of a tax-reform package next week, the National Journal wrote:

Democrats say that plan did not contain specific ways to replace that lost revenue. The simple fact, according to Democrats, is that Republicans have not been able to make the math work—and to do what they want to do would add $5 trillion to the deficit.

On Thursday, Democrats said there was talk that Camp may have actually recently revised his own plan, so that his top rate may not be lowered below 30 percent, after all. But they say they expect gimmicks will be needed to pay for it, anyway. One big gimmick anticipated, they say, is expanding the Roth IRA, which could raise a lot of money now but cost a lot of money in the future.

All the Republicans ever have are gimmicks, time after time.

But don’t worry too much. The odds of such a plan actually getting introduced seems remote, since Republicans are afraid of doing anything in 2014 because the voting public might notice. As the National Journal writes, “With no chance of their plan being backed by Democrats in the House and Senate, many Republicans also do not want to draw any election-year focus away from their attacks on the Affordable Care Act.”